Overview

A Small University in a Big-City Setting

Texas Christian University is a private, secular school whose mission is to educate individuals to think and act as ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community. The school is located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the largest metropolitan area in the state and the 4th largest in the U.S. TCU's campus is near the Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth Botanic Garden, and the city's museum district.

TCU ranks among "U.S. News and World Report's" Top 100 National Universities and "The Princeton Review" lists TCU as one of its Best Western Colleges. Total enrollment is approximately 9,900 students including some 1,300 graduate students.

A Select Group within a Large and Well-Regarded Department

The English department at Texas Christian University was founded along with the school in 1873 and has a strong academic reputation today. TCU's English graduate studies program is rated among "U.S. News and World Report's" Best Grad Schools.

While TCU's English department serves some 2,000 undergraduates each semester, the graduate studies program typically admits 10 to 12 students annually. The small size of the program allows for individual attention and a rapport with department faculty members.

Certificate Options for English Graduate Students

Graduate students in TCU's English department have the option to pursue two professional certificates: a Graduate Certificate in Women and Gender Studies and a Graduate Certificate in New Media Composing and Teaching. The interdisciplinary Certificate in Women and Gender Studies, awarded by the TCU Women and Gender Studies Program, recognizes a student's intensive investigation of women and gender studies in the context of a student's disciplinary graduate work. The Certificate in New Media Composing, awarded by the AddRan Institute of Critical and Creative Expression, recognizes a student's intensive training in web design, video production and teaching in digital platforms.

The Master of Arts in English Degree Program

Students admitted to the English master's degree program are expected to complete 30 approved hours of study within 5 years of matriculation, including 6 hours of thesis work and as many as 9 hours focused on a minor or related field of study.

Master's students may take courses in rhetoric and composition, American, British, and global literature, Latino, African-American, and women's literature, critical theory, professional writing, and creative writing.

The Ph.D. in English Degree Program

Students seeking a doctor of philosophy degree in English at TCU are expected to complete 54 hours of course work, including a core 12 hours in the department's Foundations to the Profession series, which covers critical theory and a variety of teaching modes. Remaining coursework may be selected from at least 4 of half a dozen topics such as comparative approaches, genre, theory, production, research methods, and historical engagement. An additional 12 hours is required to complete the dissertation.

The Rhetoric and Composition Ph.D. Degree Program

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Rhetoric and Composition degree plan includes 9 hours of core Foundations to the Profession classes addressing teaching and research methods. Another 27 hours are spent on electives from 4 of 6 areas of study including digital humanities and rhetoric and culture.

In addition to the successful completion of coursework and the dissertation, Rhetoric and Composition degree program students are required to show mastery of another language relevant to their professional plans and focus of study. French, Spanish, Latin, and German are options, and other languages may be approved by the English department's graduate committee.

Financial Aid at Texas Christian University

Texas Christian University's Graduate Studies office provides information on financial aid, scholarship, and fellowship options. Fellowships for graduate students offer up to 5 years' worth of funding for students pursuing doctoral degrees. Graduate fellows are expected to teach no more than 1 class per semester to allow time for their own studies.

Other grant options are open to qualified City of Fort Worth employees, Tandy Corporation employees and their children and grandchildren, and year-round part-time students with restricted incomes.

An Above-Average Record on Degree Completion and Job Placement

Between 2000 and 2010, TCU's graduate students in English have completed their programs in about 6 years, compared to the national humanities graduate student average of slightly more than 9 years.

Seventy percent of graduates from TCU's English Ph.D. degree program over the past decade found full-time higher-education work in the U.S., compared to a national humanities average of just over 50%. More than half of TCU's English doctoral program graduates during that time frame found work in tenure-track positions at such schools as Penn State University and the University of North Carolina.

The remaining 30% of TCU English Ph.D. degree program graduates during the time period surveyed found full-time higher-education jobs overseas or full-time U.S.-based work as secondary teachers, consultants, and freelance writers.

A Culturally Vibrant and Active Campus

The university's TCU Press has published "descant," "the literary journal of TCU," for the past 50 years. TCU also hosts the annual Trinity Shakespeare Festival and is home to the yearly PianoTexas International Academy and Festival.

The campus recreation center features indoor climbing walls, a vast fitness equipment room, massage therapy services, and indoor and outdoor aquatics. TCU's 18 Horned Frogs and Lady Frogs varsity sports teams are part of the NCAA's Big 12 Conference. Horned Frogs football home games are played at the school's 50,000-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium.